{"id":4425,"date":"2016-03-23T02:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T06:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4425"},"modified":"2016-03-21T15:03:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:03:34","slug":"committing-to-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/03\/committing-to-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Committing to Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MosesStoneTablets\"In Engage Now!<\/a> <\/em>I discuss the importance of making a public commitment to engagement. When new communities meet representatives of arts organizations they often assume the intent of the latter is to get them to buy tickets or make donations. That’s many people’s experience with the arts. Successful community engagement needs to be based on mutual<\/em> benefit. An official statement of the organization’s reasons for engaging and a dedication to mutuality can be a starting point for building trust.<\/p>\n

In recent months I’ve been asked several times for examples of such statements and, while there are some out there, I’ve decided it might be a good idea to share a template I’ve been working on.<\/p>\n

XYZ Arts Organization\u2019s Commitment to Our Communities<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

XYZ Arts, in living out its mission commitment to \u201c<\/em>[portion of mission statement that supports community engagement],\u201d sees itself as a resource for improving lives in and strengthening the civic fabric of <\/em>[city\/geographic region]. <\/em>[Art form we support] is, of course, valuable in and of itself; yet we also recognize its power as a tool for human betterment. Insofar as our resources permit, we seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships with individuals and organizations to help us further the public good. We will approach these relationships as learners, understanding that our expertise lies in <\/em>[art form we support] and that our partners are the authorities in their fields of interest. Out of these relationships we will develop experiences in which <\/em>[art form we support] supports community goals. We aspire to be a contributor to all things of importance to <\/em>[city\/geographic region] and to be recognized as a reliable and flexible collaborator on projects that make <\/em>[city\/geographic region] a better place to live.<\/em><\/p>\n

Board of Directors<\/em>
\n XYZ Arts<\/em>
\n Date<\/em><\/p>\n

It would, of course, be silly to copy this verbatim, simply filling in the appropriate words and phrases between the brackets. However, a statement coming from the governing body committing to the things included here would demonstrate a seriousness of purpose that could be significant in building trust with new communities.<\/p>\n

And, this is a work in progress. I’m not only open but anxious to get feedback on improvements to this as a basis for future statements from arts organizations.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photo:\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by arbyreed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Draft of an arts organization’s statement of commitment to community engagement \u2013a potentially useful tool in the trust-building process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Committing to Engagement\u2013an initial means to build trust.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[12,13,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-relationships","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/MosesStoneTablets-e1455894470832.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-19n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3547,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/04\/yep-we-do-that\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":0},"title":"Yep, We Do That","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes internal dissonance exists about an arts organization's commitment to community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ThumbUp","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ThumbUp-300x184.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4997,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/08\/the-boards-role-in-community-engagement-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":1},"title":"The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The board of directors can and should be a supportive resource for community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/BoardOfDirs-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5431,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/10\/funding-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":2},"title":"Funding Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you have to have funding before you can begin community engagement work you are not prepared for it.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Money-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4305,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/12\/transformative-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":3},"title":"Transformative Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Transformative Engagement\u2013Community engagement (built on community learning) that influences the organization's programming and\/or ways of doing business. Only transformative engagement builds an organization's relevance.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Caterpillar-Butterfyl-e1443036832677.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4370,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/02\/definitions-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":4},"title":"Definitions, Again","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"My latest take on definitions of audience development, audience engagement, and community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dictionary.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5274,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/the-problem-of-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4425,"position":5},"title":"The Problem of “Engagement”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Effective engagement is rooted in relationship building with new communities, pursuit of mutual benefit with them, and inclusion of them in the design and implementation of projects.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ProblemPostit-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4425"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4489,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425\/revisions\/4489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}